WanderJaunt

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Overview

WanderJaunt works to create the platform and the infrastructure for the optimal utilization of residential real estate. The company is rapidly growing Bay Area startup that currently manages a diverse portfolio of properties across the USA used for both short and long term rentals.

Design Challenge

The combination of a diverse range of property types and booking platforms utilized at WanderJaunt created the need for a tool that helps guests check-in and get to know their space easily.

Previously, WanderJaunt didn’t provide a place where guests could access information about their WanderJaunt reservations online. As a result, CX receives many time consuming inbound messages regarding stay length, payment, directions, accessing amenities, and check-in information. Similarly, Operations experiences losses in terms of physical damage, lost key fobs, and late check-outs. 

We wanted to get started on the baby steps of developing the WanderJaunt app by creating a static webpage that would act as the guest’s proverbial toolbelt during their stay. That’s a lot of information though, and anyone who has ever seen the text version of our check-in instructions for multi-family homes knows those are challenging enough to munch on! We didn’t want our guests to navigate through a long scrolling experience, but the VFD is not an app. This means we aren’t able to support adding or removing sections, using push indicators, or implementing tags to indicate those changes. The only capabilities we have with a static page are providing links and letting them know exactly when the info will be available. By displaying things as clickable sections within the VFD, we can provide guests with detailed information without overwhelming them on the VFD home screen. This ultimately reduces the amount of scrolling guests have to do and allows them to keep multiple tabs of information open.

Objectives:

• Reduce the amount of inbound messages Customer Care receives daily

• Improve ratings for check-in experience

Proposed Solutions

For guests: Design an intuitive mobile interface that encompasses all of the property’s key features and answers to commonly asked guest questions.

Process

Summary:

We’ve developed our very own Virtual Front Desk and have integrated it into the WanderJaunt guest experience. Now, all guests (regardless of booking platform) will have all of their stay details in the palm of their hands (ahem, smart device). Virtual Front Desk is a secure web page that is unique to the guest and the stay. A passcode unique to the guest is required to access the VFD page, which provides a check-in tracker, check-in instructions, entry codes, wifi logins, amenity details, payment details, easy access to Google maps, and links to our local guides.

The VFD will bring more convenience to our guests and reduce the amount of inbound messages Customer Care receives daily.

VFD is just the beginning. You all can soon expect a revamp of our automated messages. The goal: to align the messages to the different stages of the Virtual Front Desk in an effort to reduce and streamline guest messaging. What else are we working on? We’re building a “manage my stays” feature into the VFD and creating a “my itineraries” page to act as a parent index page for each VFD a guest has access to (assuming they have multiple WanderJaunt stays). Stay tuned, WanderFam!

Expected Outcomes:

1. Decrease in costs regarding late check-outs, lost/misplaced key fobs, and damages by implementing strategic notifications at key points in the guest journey. 

2. Decrease in inbound CX communications regarding when to expect check-in instructions, how to access “luxe” amenities (ie gyms, pools, outdoor grills) 

3. Improvement in our NPS scores specific to “WanderJaunt was easy to work with” and “check-in was easy”

Details:

Why is VFD passcode protected? Wouldn’t it be nice if guests had the option to create a WanderJaunt account that would keep them logged into VFD?

We require a passcode unique to your reservation to access VFD. We will be adding in account creation as an option after “my itineraries” are built. Why? For a non-wj booking, there was no way of connecting their current stay to the new account even if they create one—hence when they revisit the page again having created a new account. They would still see the passcode pop up screen(womp, womp). As a part of “manage my stay”, we'll refactor the account management. Then, once a guest creates an account with us, they'll be able to have all of their existing and previous stays with us.

Does a guest have access to all of this information after their check-out day? 

Yes and no. After the day of checkout, the VFD should only display the “payment details” and “lost and found” sections. Hypothetically, if a guest has old VFD tabs open or has saved an old URL, they would be able to access that information. Lucky for us, we change the front door access codes as soon as they check-out (holla at your eng team for remote lock code updates, woot, woot!) — so our asse(t)s are safe!

Designs

WanderJaunt works to create the platform and the infrastructure for the optimal utilization of residential real estate. The company is rapidly growing Bay Area startup that currently manages a diverse portfolio of properties across the USA used for both short and long term rentals.

Next Steps

The Future of the VFD

The VFD is still in an early phase of development. In the coming months, we plan to grow the VFD by adding interactive features and creating a "My Itineraries page" allowing guests to access all of their WanderJaunt itineraries in one place. In the future, all of these features will be housed in the WanderJaunt app; stay tuned for more updates!